For Release: Monday, December 17, 2007
Contact: Christina Mulka (Durbin): 202.228.5643
                David Gillies (Costello): 202-225-5661

DURBIN AND COSTELLO ANNOUNCE THAT GRANITE CITY AND ALTON WILL SOON BE ELIGIBLE FOR CDBG FUNDS

Illinois lawmakers author provision included in Congress' Spending Bill

Washington - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Congressman Jerry Costello (D-IL) announced today that the House of Representatives has approved the final omnibus spending bill which includes a provision they wrote that allows two Southern Illinois towns - Alton and Granite City - to be eligible for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding.  The bill will be considered in the Senate this week and could be sent to the President for his signature as early as this weekend.

"Having community development funding available to Alton and Granite City assures that community revitalization projects - new streets, recreation facilities and neighborhood centers - will be able to move forward," said Durbin.  "Congressman Costello has been tireless in his effort to ensure that these vital economic development resources will once again be available to these communities, and I am proud to join him in that effort." 

"This provision is a permanent fix that will allow Alton and Granite City to fully participate in the CDBG program going forward," said Costello.  "We successfully made the case to congressional leaders that this was a truly unique situation and that through no fault of their own, these cities were being denied access to important community-improvement funding.   This legislation is particularly important given President Bush's continued refusal to make domestic spending a priority of the federal budget."

Alton and Granite City have been a part of the Madison County CDBG program since its inception in 1975. During the 1980 census process, OMB designated "central cities of metropolitan areas."  Alton and Granite City fit this definition as it pertained to cities with populations between 25,000 and 50,000 that met certain distress criteria.  As a result, both were determined to be eligible for CDBG funding as entitlement communities.

In 1999, Alton and Granite City deferred their entitlement status so Madison County would not lose entitlement status as a county.  This agreement proved to be satisfactory until the recent OMB definition changes. OMB no longer recognizes the "central city" status.  The new "principal city" designation requires a minimum population of 50,000 which neither community meets.  As a result, both communities lost entitlement status for purposes of the CDBG program, while all other such "central city" communities were grandfathered into the program.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has determined that they are the only communities to have lost CDBG entitlement status in the nation as a result of the recent OMB changes in how counties are defined.  Thus, Granite City and Alton are no longer part of an entitlement community and will lose much needed resources to sustain their communities. Both communities are older industrial cities that have suffered from job losses and have higher than local, state and national unemployment levels.  Both have had large employers, including steel mills in both cities, close.  Both have an older housing stock and lower income residents. Additionally, both have a disproportionate share of public housing, in comparison to the balance of the region.

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